Deep groove ball bearings are well known, particularly in the automotive field. Deep groove ball bearings are used in automotive transmissions, especially for continuously variable transmissions or hybrid transmission or e-axles. These known types of bearings experience creep due to high speed and heavy loads. In particular, the outer bearing ring experiences creep, which causes fretting and wear in the outer housing, typically formed from aluminum. Known solutions for addressing bearing creep include applying a coating to the bearing components, or require the use of an angular contact bearing with a biasing element to provide a preload. These solutions are relatively expensive and require additional assembly steps and handling.
Known solutions for addressing creep or thermal expansion of bearing assemblies are disclosed in US Pub 2012/0093453; U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,684,608; 5,028,152; and US Pub. 2009/0080824.
It would be desirable to provide a cost-effective solution for addressing fretting and wear in deep groove ball bearings that does not affect load capacity and is relatively simple to assemble.